The present invention relates to a fastener that thermally couples a heat sink to an integrated circuit package in an electronic device.
Electronic devices generate heat during operation. Thermal management refers to the ability to keep temperature-sensitive elements in an electronic device within a prescribed operating temperature. Thermal management has evolved to address the increased heat generation created within such electronic devices as a result of the increased speed and power that are associated with ever-improving electronic devices.
The advent of such high performance electronic devices now requires more innovative thermal management. Each of these increases in speed and power generally carries a cost of increased heat generation such that additional innovations must be made to provide proper thermal management.
Several methods have been employed for cooling electronic devices that include high performance integrated circuits. One method of cooling these types of devices is by attaching heat sinks to the devices. Integrated circuits are typically assembled into packages that are soldered, or plugged into, a motherboard on a computer. One or more heat sinks are typically mounted to the motherboard, or some part of the integrated circuit packages, in order to provide cooling to the integrated circuit packages during operation of the computer.
A number of conventional fasteners are used to attach the heat sinks to the integrated circuit packages and/or the motherboards. The fasteners extend through clearance holes in the integrated circuit package and the heat sink, and are constructed to exert a spring force that presses the heat sink against one or more of the integrated circuit packages. Compressing the heat sinks against the integrated circuit packages decreases the thermal impedance between the integrated circuit packages and the heat sinks.
The fasteners that are presently used to fasten heat sinks to integrated circuit packages are relatively expensive to produce and assemble. It would be desirable to provide a fastener that can be readily assembled to exert a spring force on the interface between a heat sink and an integrated circuit package, and is relatively inexpensive to produce and assemble.